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Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C

Nitefighter is a new brand of flashlights coming to the market, and it looks like the F30C is going to be the first model available. Nitefighter flashlights are manufactured by Lumingear Lighting Co., which from what I understand has been dealing in parts in the illumination industry since 2004, and has recently moved to producing their own flashlight brand. The F30C is a multi-mode thrower with several battery options, that hints at some good things coming from Nitefighter in the future.

Thanks to Andy at Lumingear for supplying the F30C for review.

Iíll be reviewing the F30C in two sections: first, Iíll discuss the light objectively (the facts about the light itself), then Iíll discuss the light subjectively (my impressions about the light's performance when used for specific applications). This light seems to be designed to fulfill the role of a small- to mid-sized thrower, so I'll be reviewing it as such. If you have any other specific applications you'd like the light tested for, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

The F30C came packaged in this cardboard box with a sticker on the front. The letters "JM" are in marker and probably won't be on the production version, they are my initials .

Inside you find the light in a nice cardboard cradle, with all the accessories stuffed inside the holster.

Here's all the included accessories: extension tube, holster, lanyard, clip, and two o-rings. My review sample also included a rough draft of a user's manual printed on a piece of 8.5x11 plain white pater, which I believe will be updated to something more polished in the production version.

Construction Quality

The F30C feels like it's construction quality is on par with industry standard. Without the extension tube, it can run off 1x18650, 2x16340 or 2xCR123. With the extension tube, it uses 3xCR123 only.
Correction: as jh333233 has pointed out to me, with the extender the F30C *should* be able to use 2x17500 or 2x18500 lithium ion cells, which would give you similar output as 2x16340, but with more run time. I have not tested this, as I don't have any lions that size.

We'll take a look at the outside of the light, from front to back.

The F30C uses a Cree XM-L emitter, T6 bin. The LED is well centered in a smooth reflector, which optimizes the throw of the light, but tends to add rings or other artifacts to the beam. It has a stainless steel, crenelated bezel with some indentations cut out of the inner slant. The crenelations are useful for seeing if the light is on when it's standing head down, or for striking an enemy. The indentations cut along the inside are purely for style.

The body has two flats cut into it, one on each side. One side has the Nitefighter branding, the other side has the model number. The lettering is clearly printed and professional-looking.

The F30C has a cutout-style tail cap, which allows easy access to the switch (from two sides) while still making the light able to tail stand. You can also see that the tail cap has one long hole cut out of one side, and two small holes plus a notch cut out out of the other side. This allows for a large variety of ways to use a lanyard, either the one included or your own style, while still retaining the ability to tail stand if you desire it. Also, the main section of the tail has several large grooves cut into it, giving very good grip on the tail end.

The switch is a forward-clicky style switch, which means that you can press it half way for momentary on, or press it all the way and it will click into a constant-on position.

As mentioned, the F30C can tail stand. However, it's not a completely stable tail stand, because of the sides cut out, so you'll need a very flat surface, and be careful not to bump it.

Now it's time to take it apart.

As you can see, the crenelated bezel is removable, and other than that, nothing else comes apart easily without the use of tools, except at the separation between the head, body, and tail. The F30C uses double o-rings for extra certainty of protection against water, and claims water-resistance to IPX-8 standard (protected from immersion in water beyond 1 meter, not tested for resistance to dust/particles). You can see the results of my submersion testing in the "Performance" section.

Not pictured above: 16340 extender
The crenelated bezel can be unscrewed from the head without too much effort. This leaves the possibility of changing out bezels if desired (for example, a "non-agressive" bezel).

The threads between the head and body are not anodized, because they are part of the electrical circuit, and because of the user interface (which includes loosening or tightening the head), need to make electrical contact even when the head is not tightened fully. A spring in the head serves as the contact for the positive battery terminal, which protects the battery during impacts, and also ensures the use of either button-top or flat-top cells.

All of the body threads are thick and square-cut, which is generally the most robust design, and make screwing or unscrewing the parts easiest. The threads at the read of the body are anodized on the outside, and un-anodized on the rear face, because the tail only needs electrical connection when fully tightened. Anodizing threads helps them last longer, so, if changing batteries frequently, I would advise using removing the tail from the body, instead of the head. Also, you can see here that the walls of the body are respectably thick.

The threads inside the tail cap are anodized, and the base of the inside is bare to make electrical connection with the rear of the body. A spring is used for the negative terminal, which again helps protect the battery during impact.

When an 18650 battery is inserted, it will stick out just a few millimeters (especially if it's closer to actually being an 18700, like my Callie's Kustoms cells).

The F30C includes a clip as a standard accessory, which clips onto the side of the light with a moderate amount of force.

The clip is angled in such a way as to make contact with the body, which should help it hold the light firmly wherever you clip it.

A holster is also a standard accessory, with the Nitefighter brand name printed on a small tag on the side. The holster has a velcro belt strap and a velcro head flap. The F30C fits in the holster head up, but not head down. The F30C can be put into the holster while the extension tube is attached, but I was unable to get the cover flap to close properly in this situation, and the head sticks out significantly further.

The UI of the F30C is divided into two states: head tight or head loose. Both have mode memory, so when you turn the light off, next time you turn the light on it will come on in whatever mode you used last. Mode memory also persists between switching between the General and Tactical UI. IE, if you set the F30C to medium on the General UI, then loosen the head and set the Tactical UI to strobe, you can tighten the head and get medium again, then loosen the head again to go back to strobe. SOS mode is "hidden" and excluded from mode memory, so if you turn on SOS mode, then turn the light off, it will come back on in (last used mode or high mode?). To advance from one mode to the next in a sequence, you turn the light off then back on within about 1.5 seconds from entering the mode (essentially a series of clicks turning the light on and off rapidly). You can do this either by the momentary on or constant on function of the tail cap (wither full presses or half presses).

The SOS mode is a little complicated. No matter what mode you start in, it will activate the 4th time you change the mode. Leaving the light on in one mode for a long time will not reset the count, so if you change the mode twice, use the light for a while, then change it two more, it will be in SOS mode. Leaving the light off for a long time will reset the count, so if you change the mode twice, turn the light off and leave it off for a while, then change it two more, it will not be in SOS mode. SOS mode is not memorized. After SOS mode, the light always goes back to High.

UI Summary:

General UI (Head Tight)
High -> Medium -> Low
(No matter where you start, 4 mode is) -> SOS -> (sequence restarts at High)
(SOS is not memorized. While counting to 4, leaving the light off resets the count, leaving the light on does not)

Tactical UI (Head Loose)
Turbo -> Strobe

Here's a video of the UI in action:

Action Shots

Light in Hand (no extender)

Light in Hand (extended)

White Wall
(ISO 100, f/3.3, 1/15")
Turbo, High, Medium, Low

BeamSlice
(ISO 100, f/3.3, 1/10")

As you can see here, the design of the reflector/emitter together focuses the warmer tones of the light towards the center of the beam, and bends the cooler blues and purples to the outside.

Indoor Shots
(ISO 100, f/3.3, 1")
Control, Turbo, High, Medium, Low

Outdoor Shots
(ISO 100, f/3.3, 1")
Control, Turbo, High, Medium, Low

Mid-Range Shots (control first)
(ISO 100, f/3.3, 5")

Throw Shots (control first)
(ISO 100, f/3.3, 5")

Fog Shot

Performance

PWM: I can find no visible or audible trace of pulse-width modulation on any mode.

Reverse Polarity Protection: I can find no evidence to suggest reverse polarity protection, make sure to insert all batteries with the positive terminal facing the head and the negative terminal facing the tail.

Over Discharge Protection: I can find no evidence to suggest built-in over discharge protection. When using lithium ion rechargeable cells, I recommend only using ICR protected cells. If you decide to use IMR unprotected cells, be sure to charge them frequently.

Impact: I dropped the F30C several times from 1-2 meters, and I find no damage to appearance or operation of the light.

Submersion: I put the light under about a foot of water and turned it on/off, switched modes by the tail cap button, and switched modes but loosening/tightening the head (slightly). After taking it back out, I could find no evidence that water penetrated any area of the light.

Heat: After half an hour of constant Turbo, the F30C is warm to the touch, but by no means hot. I believe the heat sinking and dissipation of the F30C are more than adequate to handle the heat generated.

Current Draw

These measurements were taken while using one fresh AW ICR protected 18650.

Low: .024A
Medium: 1.15A
High: 1.61A
Turbo: 1.75A

Runtime

Note: The vertical axis of these charts represents a relative brightness measurement using a home made light box. The horizontal axis is time in hours:minutes:seconds. Runtimes are stated in hours:minutes:seconds. Note: these graphs may have been truncated to show the relevant portion of the data. All tests were done using fresh, protected ICR cells (AW 750mAh 16340's and Callie's Kustoms 3100mAh 18650's).

-SOS mode is a huge pain-Slightly too large for pocket carry
-No rechageables with the extender
-Poor regulation with 1x18650

The F30C has been a lot of fun to use, I can see that the folks at Nitefighter have put a lot of thought into this light. The light is very comfortable to use, and looks very stylish. The construction of the F30C is great, I appreciate the springs at both battery terminals, and I really like the design of the tail cap.

The UI is good overall. I like the ability to loosen the head to get to Turbo quickly. I almost never have a use for Strobe, but I can use the mode memory to ensure that I always get Turbo when the head is loose. I have one complaint about the UI: the SOS mode is a huge pain. It comes up often when trying to cycle through the general H-M-L sequence, and I have no use for SOS mode. I'm going to recommend to Nitefighter that they either give it a better hiding place, or get rid of it all together.

Otherwise, I have no real complaints about the F30C. It's a little larger than I like for pocket carry (and I have big pockets), but it comes with a perfectly good holster. The only battery configuration you can use with the extender tube is 3xCR123, and I would suggest an 18650 sized extender would be more useful (the output of 2x16340 with a much better run time). I just don't use primaries very often.

Correction: as jh333233 has pointed out to me, with the extender the F30C *should* be able to use 2x17500 or 2x18500 lithium ion cells, which would give you similar output as 2x16340, but with more run time. I have not tested this, as I don't have any lions that size.

I really like the throw on the F30C. It's got a great tight hotspot, with smooth transition into an adequate amount of spill. Previously I kept the SWM T20CS in my bag for a compact thrower, but the F30C gives it a run for it's money.

The F30C has a great feature: automatic thermal stepdown. On Turbo mode, the F30C will automatically step down to High mode after a time, in order to keep the emitter from overheating.

I like the spacing on the modes, the Low is useful if you need to use the light indoors/at close range. The Medium, High, and Turbo seem too closely spaced when you're inside, but outside and at long range they show themselves to be appropriately spaced.

Overall, the F30C is very well put together. In my time using it, I've found it's not really one I like to use inside because of the intense hotspot (it makes it hard to see anything else) but it does wonderful at mid to long range outdoors. I like having the lower modes available, but because this is mostly a long range light, I usually leave it on High, switching to Turbo occasionally for a little extra boost.

Thrower

I don't have too much to say here, other than this is one of the best compact throwers I've seen without an aspheric lens. There are lights with larger reflectors that can throw farther than this one, but if you want a compact one, the F30C is a good bet. As you can see in the beam shots, most of the light is concentrated in the hot spot, with a smooth transition into a little bit of spill. I do like have a bit of spill light, even on a dedicated thrower, so that I can still see the area around me, even when I'm focusing on something far away. As I mentioned before though, I'd rather have the extension tube be 18650 sized, so that when I'm going to be using the light for a while I can increase have increased run times at higher brightness. I just don't have much use for primary (non-rechargeable cells) except as an emergency backup, and as it is, the only battery configuration when using the extender is 3xCR123.

Correction: as jh333233 has pointed out to me, with the extender the F30C *should* be able to use 2x17500 or 2x18500 lithium ion cells, which would give you similar output as 2x16340, but with more run time. I have not tested this, as I don't have any lions that size.

Long Term Impressions

I'll fill this part in after carrying the light for a while. If nothing get's added here, either I find nothing else worth noting about the light, or I end up not using it often.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Added several pictures, beamslice, and output graphs w/ runtime data for high and low modes with 1x18650. I plan to do turbo with 1x18650 next, then the top three modes with 2x and 3x16340, then finish with the low modes (because they'll take a while).

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

excellent beamshots and sliceshots. one of the best (picture qualitywise) ive seen so far. the pics clearly show what is commonly observed in XPG's and XML's: the corona artifacts and the greenishness in the corona. it seems like the hotspot center area is greenish too (to be seen against a purplish beam), e.g. as in a quark x or to a lesser degree in itp a3 xpg r5.

tint is most easily seen in white wall (or ceiling) bounces. shine against one white wall (in a small room) and look at the color which you see at the opposite white wall.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Originally Posted by shelm

excellent beamshots and sliceshots. one of the best (picture qualitywise) ive seen so far. the pics clearly show what is commonly observed in XPG's and XML's: the corona artifacts and the greenishness in the corona. it seems like the hotspot center area is greenish too (to be seen against a purplish beam), e.g. as in a quark x or to a lesser degree in itp a3 xpg r5.

tint is most easily seen in white wall (or ceiling) bounces. shine against one white wall (in a small room) and look at the color which you see at the opposite white wall.

Thanks again. Awesome photos. Really helpful!!!

Thanks for the encouragement!

Originally Posted by candle lamp

Excellent review as always. Bigmac 79!

I appreciate your good word as well.

I owe you one, you saved my F30C! I was literally 5 minutes away from running the 3x16340 Turbo runtime test when I read your message, I'm glad I decided to get on CPF first this morning.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Nice review Bigmac - how would you compare to the Sunwayman T20CS? I wound up getting the T20CS after your review as I wanted a non aspherical pocket thrower - of which I'm very happy with. But liking flashlights, always looking out for the next thrower... pocket sized. Cheers!

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Originally Posted by RCLumens

Nice review Bigmac - how would you compare to the Sunwayman T20CS? I wound up getting the T20CS after your review as I wanted a non aspherical pocket thrower - of which I'm very happy with. But liking flashlights, always looking out for the next thrower... pocket sized. Cheers!

I'm glad you asked! When I first opened this light up, I thought of the T20CS. I haven't done any direct comparison yet, but I've got a few observations. On 1x18650, their output is very similar. The T20CS has slightly better regulation, and a lower low. I can't really compare run time, because I've gotten higher capacity batteries since reviewing the T20CS. The T20CS has the side switch/tail switch combo, while the F30C uses a tail switch/head twist combo for UI. The T20CS has the low voltage indicator. The T20CS seems to be going for $110, the F30C has an expected price of $89.

Most notably, the F30C is significantly larger, including having a larger reflector, so my money is on the F30C for throw. Here's some quick and dirty pictures.

I might address this in subjective review or I might not, I'm not sure if I want to start putting comparisons in the actual review, or leave all that for the replies.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Originally Posted by kj2

Would like to test this light in person

I haven't heard any sort of timeline from Lumingear, but from how well this review sample functions, I'd guess they are pretty close to being ready for production. I know as a new company in the flashlight arena, it might take them some time to get dealers sorted out, I'm not sure how that is going for them.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Alright, more outdoor beam shots are posted.

I also did a shot comparing the T20CS with the F30C. As I expected, the F30C has a tighter hot spot than the T20CS, so with similar overall output, the F30C will throw farther. I also found the spill of the F30C was slightly less as wel.

The bezel diameter is the same as the head diameter, which I measured and listed in the review (end of the "construction" section). I don't know the msrp for sure yet, but I think the F30C thread in the marketplace mentioned an estimate of $89.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Many thanks Bigmac! These are excellent beamshots and is a great review thus far! The comparison with the T20CS is also interesting - you can certainly see the tighter spot with less spill - it looks a bit brighter - perhaps it'll pick up an extra 50yds? It's still a small size and the price is good also for throwing so well. Will keep my eyes open on your longer term impressions - Right now, I'm liking my T20CS because I'm going to pick it up and head outside with the dog! Where does one buy an F30C anyway? any US distributors yet? Cheers and awesome review!!

Many thanks Bigmac! These are excellent beamshots and is a great review thus far! The comparison with the T20CS is also interesting - you can certainly see the tighter spot with less spill - it looks a bit brighter - perhaps it'll pick up an extra 50yds? It's still a small size and the price is good also for throwing so well. Will keep my eyes open on your longer term impressions - Right now, I'm liking my T20CS because I'm going to pick it up and head outside with the dog! Where does one buy an F30C anyway? any US distributors yet? Cheers and awesome review!!

Yeah, the F30C is definitely going to have a longer throw. Hopefully I'll be able to take them both out to a darker place to get some better long range comparison shots.

So far, I haven't heard anything about who the dealers will be. I'll have to check the cpf rules, I don't think I'm actually allowed to post anything about dealers here. I might just have to make a post saying I know where they can be bought, and pm the answer to anyone who wants to know. Mods, feel free to chime in on the appropriate way to handle this if you like.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Ok, I've finished the notes in the Construction Quality section, and given a sketch of the UI. I'll have to come back and polish up the UI section later (the F30C is doing a runtime test on low right now, so I can't play with the UI at the moment).

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Originally Posted by jh333233

H>M>L done by tailcap?
Any signs of PWM?
Thanks

Yes, you move through H-M-L by the tail cap button.

I don't know about PWM, I haven't tested for it yet (and like I said, right now it's in the middle of a run time test for low mode). If there is PWM, it hasn't been noticeable to me in my normal use so far.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

The subjective review is almost complete, I'll just add a few more impressions after the low mode runtime test is done and I get a chance to play with it some more. At that time I'll also add more details to the UI section. After that I'd like to get some more, longer range beam shots.

The low mode run time test is currently almost to 65 hours, and is getting close to 50% of starting output, but isn't there yet.

Originally Posted by tobrien

another amazing review, thanks!

so it looks like, based on the barn pictures, that it's got a decently noticeable ring outside of its hotspot. is that annoying at all in usage?

also i really, for some odd reason, like how the tail cap has the keyed slot in it. for some reason that caught my eye and i like it

I haven't noticed a ring outside of the hotspot when I've been using the light, and I can't see it in the pictures, so I guess it's not that annoying in usage . After the low mode runtime test is done, I'll take it out for a spin and see if I can find it, maybe you've just got better eyes than me.

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Many thanks again Bigmac - Really awesome rfeview. I'll be keeping my eyes open on where to buy one of these. The UI seems good and I like the fact that it has a clip. That would have been very useful for the T20CS.
Cheers - RC

Re: Object/Subject Review: Nitefighter F30C (In Progress)

Originally Posted by RCLumens

Many thanks again Bigmac - Really awesome rfeview. I'll be keeping my eyes open on where to buy one of these. The UI seems good and I like the fact that it has a clip. That would have been very useful for the T20CS.
Cheers - RC

Thanks for the complement! I'm going to be asking the folks at Nitefighter if they've got an idea on where/when these will be available.